The invention relates to electrical components generally, and in particular to a device securable to or within the housing of an electrical component unit for enabling direct electrical connection between units by a stacking of the units.
In electrical and electronic component units, and particularly in computers and peripheral units, it is often necessary or desirable to add to an existing system with additional peripherals, and these peripherals must carry and receive the same power and signal information going to the units of the existing system.
In the prior art, it was necessary to interconnect the various electronic units by cables carrying a large plurality of conductors. These cables have necessarily been shielded to avoid radio frequency interference, often making them unwieldy and appreciably increasing the cost to the user.
There has been a considerable amount of technology developed relative to the interfacing of computer and peripheral units. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,881,174 and 4,286,319. While addressing certain problems relating to interfacing, these prior patents do not address the problems outlined above and to which the present invention relates.